LONDON, Aug 29: AC Milan, Barcelona and Newcastle United booked their places in the Champions League group phase Wednesday, but there was no room for a Celtic side caught out by Swiss club Basel in the third qualifying round.

Milan were beaten 2-1 at Slovan Liberec on the night, despite taking a 20th minute lead through Filippo Inzaghi, but qualified on the away goals rule having won the first leg 1-0 thanks to an Inzaghi strike.

Milan, five-times European champions, will now join the other 31 clubs in Thursday’s draw for the first group phase, which could be worth around $10 million per club. Barcelona, who had trounced Legia Warsaw 3-0 in Spain, beat them again 1-0 through a second-half penalty from Gaizka Mendieta to secure their European payday.

Newcastle made no mistake either, romping to a 4-0 win over Bosnian minnows Zeljeznicar Sarajevo at St James’ Park for a 5-0 aggregate victory.

Midfielder Kieron Dyer helped them become England’s fourth representatives in the opening stage along with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, by scoring in both matches.

“It’s magnificent,” Dyer said. “Last season was a brilliant result for us but we knew we had two important games to get into the Champions League and I think we’ve done a professional job.”

The upset of the night came from Basel, who beat Scottish champions Celtic 2-0 to make it 3-3 on aggregate and secure victory on the away goals rule.

Celtic, who in 1967 became the first British club to win the European Cup, had looked in charge of the first leg a fortnight ago despite falling behind to an ultimately decisive away goal.

On Wednesday they were floored by early strikes from Christian Giminez and Murat Yakin as the Swiss double winners, coached by former Tottenham Hotspur manager Christian Gross, held on for a remarkable win.

Seven other sides also made into the draw, led by AEK Athens, who beat APOEL Nicosia 1-0 for a 4-2 aggregate win, and Dynamo Kiev, who repeated their earlier 1-0 victory over Levski Sofia.

Austria’s two representatives went out 5-3 on aggregate after drawing 3-3 on Wednesday, with Israel’s Maccabi Haifa seeing off Sturm Graz in a game which both sides finished with 10 men, while Lokomotiv Moscow knocked out Graz AK.

Auxerre’s 0-0 home draw with Boavista put the Burgundy club through 1-0 over the two legs, Rosenborg defeated Brondby 3-2 on the night after winning the first leg 1-0, but Bruges needed a penalty shootout to dispatch Shakhtar Donetsk after two 1-1 draws.

Meanwhile Bayern Munich and AC Milan, winners of the European Cup nine times between them, were drawn in the same Champions League group on Thursday while

nine-times winners and defending champions Real Madrid take on AS Roma.

Manchester United, winners in 1999, play last season’s losing finalists Bayer Leverkusen in group F with Olympiakos Piraeus of Greece and Maccabi Haifa, the first Israeli side to reach the lucrative Champions League.

Real Madrid, who beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in May’s final, are in group C with Roma, AEK Athens and rank outsiders Genk of Belgium.

Deportivo Coruna of Spain and RC Lens of France make up group G with Bayern, winners in 2001, and AC Milan.

Collated results

Club Bruges 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 1

(after extra-time)

First leg: 1-1; 2-2 on aggregate; Bruges win 4-1 on penalties.

Brondby 2 Rosenborg 3

First leg 0-1. Rosenborg win 4-2 on aggregate

Sturm Graz 3 Maccabi Haifa 3

First leg: 0-2; Maccabi Haifa win 5-3 on aggregate

Slovan Liberec 2 AC Milan 1

First leg: 0-1; 2-2 on aggregate. AC Milan win on away goals rule.

Newcastle United 4 Zeljeznicar Sarajevo 0

First leg: 1-0; Newcastle United win 5-0 on aggregate

Basel 2 Celtic 0

AJ Auxerre 0 Boavista 0

First leg 1-0; AJ Auxerre win 1-0 on aggregate.

Athens:

AEK Athens 1 APOEL Nicosia 0

First leg 3-2; AEK win 4-2 on aggregate.

Legia Warsaw 0 Barcelona 1

First leg 0-3; Barcelona win 4-0 on aggregate

Dynamo Kiev 1 Levski Sofia 0

First leg: 1-0; Dynamo Kiev win 2-0 on aggregate

Lokomotiv Moscow 3 Graz AK 3

First leg: 2-0; Lokomotiv Moscow win 5-3 on aggregate.

Premier League results:

Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 0

Blackburn Rovers 2 Liverpool 2

Everton 1 Birmingham City 1

Leeds United 0 Sunderland 1

Southampton 1 Chelsea 1

—Reuters